The publication says 30.4% of Americans were obese in 2015, with a 95% confidence interval (so somewhere between 29.62% and 31.27%). That's compared to 19.4% in 1997.

Obesity rates were higher among middle-aged people (ages 40 to 59), with the rate for that group hitting 34.6%. Ages 20 to 39, perhaps predictably, were the least obese, with 26.5% of that population having a BMI of 30 or more. Obesity was highest for black women (45%), followed by black men (35.1%), Latina women (32.6%), Latino men (32%), white men (30.2%) and white women (27.2%). The data in the release didn't provide any information on other ethnic or racial groups, nor did it break obesity rates down by household income.

In concert with rising obesity rates, Americans are getting more diabetic. In 1997, 5.1% of U.S. adults had been diagnosed with diabetes. By 2015, that number had nearly doubled, to 9.5%. Although, again, the data here don't break everything down to my satisfaction--there are no numbers for each specific type of diabetes, for instance--it's safe to say that these correlations are the consequence of rising obesity, as 95% of people diagnosed with diabetes have type 2.

Looking at the 2015 survey data alone, it's easy to think that we've at least plateaued when it comes to obesity rates. The release says 2015's 30.4% "was higher than, but not significantly different from, the 2014 estimate of 29.9%." That's good news! We've stopped growing, so now we can put our focus on shrinking back down!

Another thing not directly addressed in the release is that that these obesity rates are calculated from self-reported heights and weights. The problem is that people like to present themselves as taller and skinnier than they are. If you are a human being living in the United States, you have probably done both at some point, adding on half an inch here and shaving off five pounds there. (Sorry, DMV. I'm actually only 5'2.5".) Research backs that up: Most people do both during research surveys. Research surveys like this one. So there's a distinct possibility, although again it's not addressed, that these numbers are and have always been a smidge higher in reality than they are on paper.

From this data, it's hard to tell what the best avenues are for solving this crisis--it's only clear that Americans have been getting steadily fatter for the last 18 years. But the problem probably can't just be chalked up to lack of exercise: 49% of U.S. adults say they met federal exercise recommendations in 2015, as compared to 43.6% in 1997.

And contrary to what Elite Daily--and a few commenters in my inbox--would have you believe, just going on a diet is not the answer to the obesity problem. As FORBES contributor Bruce Y. Lee addressed earlier this month, bodies that have gained significant amounts of weight desperately want to keep that weight on, regardless of the preferences of the brains within those bodies. It's not a matter of self-control. Formerly obese people literally cannot keep weight off and still eat the normal amount of calories for their current weight. They have to eat much, much less--and even that might not be enough. And that's all if they're even able to lose significant amounts of weight in the first place (which, again, is really, really hard).

So yes, America is most certainly getting fatter by the year. And no, the bodies contributing to that phenomenon can't just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and drive down the numbers through sheer will. This is a problem that calls for policy changes, for better availability of nutritious food, for starting with kids who can maybe forestall obesity in their own generation. But please, don't say that nearly a third of Americans just need to go on a diet.